Moon near Mars at 16h UT (evening sky). Skywatchers throughout Russia, Asia and Australia will witness the beautiful sight of a brilliant Mars (mag. ­1.9) near the Moon. Skywatchers in New Zealand will see an even rarer and spectacular occultation of Mars a few minutes before moonset. Mars remains a most worthy telescopic target. However, it will fade from mag. ­2.1 at the beginning of the month to ­1.2 by its end. At the same time the apparent diameter of the red planet will shrink from 21" to just 15". So make the most of Mars viewing opportunities in the first weeks of October.

10

Full Moon at 7:27 UT. The full Moon of October, as the first full Moon after the Harvest Moon, is called the "Hunter's Moon" in old almanacs.

Orionid meteor shower peaks. Arises from the debris field of Halley's comet. Active from October 2 to November 7. Produces very fast (66 km/sec), generally faint meteors (20 per hour). Observe in the pre-dawn hours; radiant is near Orion's "club".